


That's What Friends Are For

by Nomeci



Category: HP
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-05
Updated: 2020-06-05
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:14:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24556747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nomeci/pseuds/Nomeci
Summary: Harry is counting on his best friend to help him win a bet against Zabini.  Zabini is counting on his best friend to help him win.
Kudos: 3





	That's What Friends Are For

“You are so full of shit Blaise! Hermione nearly aced all of the O.W.L.s, what makes you think anyone could beat her out for top scores on the N.E.W.T.s?” Harry laughed in Blaise’s face. 

“You seem awfully confidant about that, Pothead,” Blaise retorted before ducking as Hermione smacked at him. Sometimes she wondered what she saw in him. Blaise rolled his eyes dramatically and then said, “I am sorry. I meant Potter.” He then turned and fluttered his eyelashes at his girlfriend. “Is that better, sugarplum?” She just laughed and smirked at him before blowing him a kiss.

“Oh for fuck’s sake! You lot are making me sick!” Ron screamed as he left the room. He had a feeling he would regret telling Hermione he was too young to settle down for a very long time. She had called herself a “valuable commodity” whatever the bloody hell that was; then stormed off saying something about showing him just how valuable she was. Since then, she made sure to flirt with someone whenever he was around. Ron could have handled that, but when it became flirting with only one person – and that person was a Slytherin – Ron nearly had a stroke. Anytime he tried to say something about it, Hermione shoved their last argument back at him. He had finally just given in and dropped the subject. At least he still had Harry to hang out with more often than not.

Harry knew better than to get in front of that line of fire. He didn’t even make innocent comments regarding it anymore for fear of ending up on the wrong end of a hex and having to chase his bits down a crowded hallway. He heard someone clear his throat and was brought out of his train of thought. Blaise was standing there looking at him as arrogant as ever. He raised one of his eyebrows in question and waited for Harry’s response.

“I am very confidant in my best friend!” Harry defended. “There is no one as smart as her in our entire class! Myself included.”

“Are you willing to stand behind that opinion?” Blaise asked, his smile widening a bit.

“Yes I am!” Harry said. “So sure in fact that I will snog whoever does get the top NEWT scores!”

“HARRY! ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?!” Hermione screeched at him. “You have no idea who could walk away with top scores? What are you thinking? What if a boy gets top marks? Did you think of that?”

“’Mione, you are the smartest witch in our class – bar none. Everyone knows that. I have nothing to worry about. In fact,” Harry began as he looked over at Blaise, “your boyfriend is the one who should be worried. Not only am I going to snog the hell out of you when the scores come back, but he is going to have to watch while I do it,” He started to walk away and had a rather evil thought. “Oh, by the way you two,” he said and then waited until both Hermione and Blaise turned their attention to him. “I plan to use a lot of tongue!”

“HARRY!” Hermione screamed again as she threw a biscuit at him. He just laughed as he ran out of the Great Hall. 

If he was honest with himself, the idea of snogging Hermione made him a bit “squickish”. Not only because she was one of his best friends, but because she was a girl. Ever since the fiasco with Cho, Harry'd had very little interest in girls. He had caught himself watching the other blokes more and more and was pretty sure he was gay. He hadn’t said anything to anyone yet, of course; no reason to cause more drama. 

\---

Two days later everyone’s N.E.W.T. results arrived. Dumbledore knew all about the bet, of course; so when he announced that the results had come back, he had pointedly NOT announced who had received top marks. Instead, he told the students awaiting the results to go straight back to the dorms. Everyone else was to go to their classes.

When the students got back to their rooms, each had an envelope sitting on their bed. Across the front of the envelope was their name in big letters. In a smaller font beneath their name it said:

Please bring this envelope back to the Great Hall immediately. 

Do NOT attempt to open this envelope until you are instructed to do so!

Within minutes, Harry and all his classmates that had taken N.E.W.T.s were again sitting in the Great Hall. Harry suddenly felt like there was a brick in his stomach. Snogging Hermione was going to be weird enough; but doing it in front of his whole class was a bit more than he had envisioned. 

“Merlin, what did I get myself into this time?” Harry thought to himself. He looked up at Dumbledore and saw the twinkle in his eye and knew he’d been had. Dumbledore smiled down at him and then looked at the group of confused kids. 

“If you will all please turn your envelopes over, some of you will see that the seal that was there is now gone. If the seal of your envelope has disappeared then you are to go on to your respective class. Do not dawdle – your professors are waiting for you.” Dumbledore added to make sure no one tried to skip classes.

There were only a handful of them left, which made Harry feel a little better about the whole situation. He noticed, however, that Malfoy was one of them. He supposed that was Blaise’s idea. Blaise knew, as well as Harry did, that Hermione was a shoe-in to get top scores and this was his way of making this as uncomfortable for Harry as possible. Harry decided that, considering Blaise was going to have to watch Harry snog his own girlfriend, having to do it in front of Malfoy was not that big a price to pay.

“Well, let’s not waste anymore time.” Dumbledore said as he stepped closer to the group. 

“Everyone please grab a piece of my robe.” Dumbledore instructed. They all did as he said and in moments they were all standing in what appeared to be one of the house common rooms. However, it was not decorated to indicate which one it was. On closer inspection one could find things representing all four houses within the room. 

“This room was initially made as a common area for all the seventh year students,” Dumbledore explained. “However, the houses have never really gotten along well enough for us to dare use it as such.” With this comment the old wizard looked specifically at Draco and Harry in turn – and then to the rest of each of their friends. Each student had the decency to at least blush or avert their gaze in response.

“Harry, my boy, have a seat right here please.” Dumbledore pointed to a small wooden chair that looked like it belonged in a school room. There was another with its back to the back of the first chair. Harry looked a bit confused, but made to sit down as Dumbledore had asked. Dumbledore made a small hand motion and Harry realized he was to sit on it backwards – with his chest against the back of the chair. Harry nodded as he moved over to the seat. 

At least I won't have to worry about Hermione's boobs touching me this way. Good thinking, Professor! Harry thought to himself.

Dumbledore pulled out a blindfold and was about to place it on Harry’s face, when Harry looked up at him like he had lost his mind. 

“Professor, what is that for?” he said as the apprehension became apparent in his voice. 

“Well, you seem rather sure of whom is going to be seating across from you in a few minutes.” Dumbledore stated as Harry nodded his head and smiled at Hermione. She smiled back weakly. “What fun would it be if there was no surprise at all for you?” Dumbledore finished. Harry couldn’t really think of an argument for this, so he shrugged and let Dumbledore place the blindfold over his eyes.

Dumbledore then turned to the rest of Harry’s classmates and said, “In order to keep this fair for everyone, I am putting a Silencing charm on the rest of you. The only ones that won't be affected by the charm are the ones who are sitting in those chairs,” Dumbledore explained while pointing in Harry’s general direction. He then continued, “Please remember however that your resistance to the spell will not take affect until you are seated appropriately on one of the chairs.” Dumbledore looked around at the rest of the students and made sure they all understood before applying the Silencing spell to the lot of them.

There was some rustling going on around Harry as everyone else in the room settled down into the other chairs that surrounded the two in the middle. The longer this took, the more nervous Harry seemed to get. He wasn’t even sure why. He had already blocked out Hermione’s face in his head, so that he would be able to put someone else’s face in her place when he had to kiss her. Even if he was straight, he didn’t think snogging one of his best friends would be cool.

Dumbledore cleared his throat once everyone was settled into place. “Ok then. Would the rest of you please turn over your envelopes? There should still be a seal in place. The seal will either be green or red. If the seal is green that means you are free to leave and go to class if you like. If the seal is red, that means that you have received the highest marks on the N.E.W.T.s this year and you are required to stay and… well… do your part to help Harry fulfill his end of the bet between himself and Mr. Zabini.” None left – not that this surprised Dumbledore at all. He was pretty sure that the only thing that could cause any of them to leave would be if Voldemort himself appeared; and even then he believed the students would have weighed their options carefully before leaving.

“I do not intend to stay for this part of the wager, but heed my advice – if there is any negativity amongst you “spectators” – you will deal with me directly! It might be beneficial to remember that even though I may not be here when it happens; I will know exactly what transpires - if I so wish it.” He squeezed Harry’s shoulder with this last comment and then left the room.

They all sat there for a moment; no one making a move. Harry realized that he was the only one able to speak. Taking a deep breath, he decided the sooner this was over the better.

“Ok, Hermione, let’s get this over with and put poor Zabini out of his misery.” He laughed. When he did not hear movement he was not sure what to think. He decided that maybe he had to sound a little more like Dumbledore in order for things to start into motion. He cleared his throat and reworded his statement.

“I guess we have to do this by the book… Will whoever received the highest marks in our class for the N.E.W.T.s please come take your chair across from me so that I can snog you senseless?” He chuckled to himself. A moment later he heard a chair farther away from him skid a bit on the floor. He never saw who sat where so he just smiled in that direction and waited for Hermione to sit down.

He heard more movement and felt as the chair across from him gave way a little when someone sat on it. The person took a deep breath and began to fidget. Harry didn’t understand why Hermione would be this nervous. It wasn’t like she hadn’t been expecting this to happen for at least the last couple days. He shrugged to himself and placed his hand along the back of the other chair and smiled in that direction. 

The other student grabbed Harry’s wrist and placed it back on the other chair before placing their own hand over top of it. The student took another deep breath and mentally cursed Dumbledore for the blindfold. It had been extremely important that they look into each others eyes before the kiss. However, it was easy to understand the old man’s thoughts. The student seriously doubted Harry would be so forthcoming with his “payoff” if he had for even one second thought there was a chance that anyone besides Hermione would receive top marks.

Harry leaned toward his “intended” and touched their foreheads together before he spoke just above a whisper. “`Mione – I am sure Zabini is ready to spit nails as it is… let’s not prolong his torture any longer? Besides – I am sure you are just as eager to get this over with as I am.” There was a bit more shifting and fidgeting and then the other student leaned in towards Harry. Harry could feel the foreign lips against his ear and wondered if Hermione had pulled her hair back because it wasn’t flying all over his face at the moment as he would expect it to be doing.

The other student slowly licked up the side of Harry’s ear, making his breath stop in his throat and the expression that ran across his face was so obvious even the blindfold couldn’t hide it. Harry was quite shocked! He hadn’t really expected much more than a peck on the cheek – despite his boasting. He knew it was safe to boast because he knew Hermione would not go through with a kiss like that with him. Of course, he never expected her to lick his ear either – not to mention the ball of heat that had formed in his stomach when it happened. It was in the middle of this thought that Harry heard the soft whispered reply. The owner of the voice apparently really was nervous as the voice cracked a bit when they first started talking. …

“Actually, Zabini looks rather pleased with himself,” The other student paused here for effect. “And, I am definitely not eager to – how did you put that – get this over with.”

Harry’s eyebrows shot up well above the blindfold and he started to sit upright as he opened his mouth to speak… “Malf…” Before he could even finish his thought, Draco had put his hand behind Harry’s neck and pulled him into a heated kiss. Moving quickly, Draco put his hands on either side of Harry’s face and – to quote Harry – snogged him senseless. Time seemed to stand still for everyone – even those who were just watching. 

Draco held their faces together and he slowly slipped his tongue into Harry’s open mouth. Harry was at a loss… he didn’t know what to do. Technically, he didn’t think he could do anything. He had agreed to the bet. Resigning himself to having to deal with a Q&A session from hell later, Harry decided now was as good a time as any to see if he really might be gay. He relaxed his shoulders and leaned into the kiss. Bringing his hands up he wound them into Draco’s hair, making a mental note of how soft it was. He started pushing his own tongue out towards Draco’s. They were kissing each other so hard, you could see the muscles in their necks actually straining.

After a few minutes they finally broke the kiss. Both boys taking ragged breaths and Harry trying to figure out how this had happened. He didn’t regret it – as surprising as that was to him – but he was still rather confused. He felt Draco start to pull away and instinctively reached out and grabbed his hand, letting their hands fall to the side of the chair this time, Harry pulled Draco back against the chair – only inches from his face.

“I believe the bet was that I would snog someone else senseless – not the other way around…” Harry said as he pulled Draco’s lips up against his own once more. This snogging session also seemed to last forever before they pulled apart and this time it was Draco that stunned. He had been in love with Potter for several years and had never even dreamed he would get to kiss him like he did that first time. To have Harry not only kiss him back during the first instance, but initiate another was more than Draco have even contemplated. He wasn’t sure where to go from there. In all honesty, he had expected the boy to hex him as soon as they broke away from the first kiss if not sooner.

Harry pulled the blindfold off and finally was able to look into Draco’s grey eyes. Harry wondered aloud, “When did your eyes go from completely lifeless to being so full of life?” he asked as his hand ran softly down the side of Draco’s face – making the pale boy blush. Draco smiled a soft -and still very tentative- smile, looked at his watch, and then back into Harry’s eyes before saying softly, “about 4 minutes ago.”

The two talked just barely above a whisper for several more minutes. Harry had lifted the Silencing charm from the others, but most were still too stunned to say anything. Ron was muttering something about needing a nausea potion and possibly something for retina burn. At hearing that, Draco and Harry laughed lightly and kissed again. It wasn’t a passion-filled kiss as before – just something playful meant more to irritate Ron than anything else.

Everyone started to get out of their seats and head for their dorms or wherever they needed to be. Harry was walking with Draco – not holding hands, but close enough to be doing so. As they walked past Blaise and Hermione, Draco looked over to his oldest friend and to the friend he had made only a few months ago -when she started dating the other. She was making Draco realize just how valuable a real friend could be in a time of need. She smiled slightly as he mouthed the words “Thank You” to her and she replied by mouthing “You Owe Me… BIG” back at him before winking.

As Harry and Draco left the room to go try and figure out if this could be anything more, Hermione looked over at Blaise with a very serious glare. She barely moved her lips as she spoke, but what she said, was very clear.

“Blaise Zabini – I am only going to say this one last time. I did not “tank” my Arithmancy NEWT just to see Harry get hurt. If Draco hurts him in any way – I will personally string you both up by your ankles and peel the skin from each of you in sheets!”

Blaise saluted her jokingly before looking to the “gamblers”. “They do look happy though `Mione – don’t they?” he replied.

Her eyes followed them out of the room; “Yes… they do look happy.” She leaned into Blaise and gave him a small kiss. “I suppose it even makes it worth taking home second place as far as the NEWT scores are concerned.” She added before clasping hands with him and heading out to take a walk by the lake.

~The End~


End file.
